Tales of the Cothica
by Orlandu
Summary: There's more to Perrim and Chaotic than you think, Tom.  Much more than anyone thinks.  Secrets of the past that have been lost for centruies are waiting to be discovered.  Go now Tom, and learn what those secrets are.  Rated K for now, and T for later.


**Tales of the Cothica**

Hi, I'm Orlandu. Well, this is awkward. I don't see any Chaotic subcategory, so I guess I might have to post this in Miscellaneous Cartoons for now. I wonder if I can ask them to make one for me. That'd be nice. But enough about my problems. Let's get on to the story.

Disclaimer: Chaotic, and all things related to it in this fanfic, belong to whomever owns the rights to them. All original characters and story ideas in here belong to me.

Is that everything? We're good? Yeah? Okay, we're good. Okay, cue theme music!

* * *

It was another great day in Chaotic, and Tom was enjoying it as best he could. A great match the other day, an overnight trip to Prexxor Chasm afterward (complete with a new scan Ursis (Yes!)), and now a nice relaxing lunch here at the Dome. 

With a contented sigh, Tom leaned back in his chair and relaxed. _The only thing that could make this day any more perfect would be-_

"Tom!"

_That._ As reluctant to move as he was, Tom lifted his head up and looked over. Yep, there were his friends, Kaz, Peyton, and Sarah, making their way over.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" he called out as they approached.

"Yo, if it isn't my main man with the battle plan," Peyton said as the three of them sat down at the table with Tom. "You gonna eat that whole pizza all by your lonesome?"

"Help yourself," Tom answered, gesturing at the pepperoni pizza in the center.

As Peyton, pulled off a slice, he said "We saw your match the other day, total slamaramma! You took your game up a notch, I see."

"Yeah," Kaz added. "Ever since you won your Codemaster match, it's like your on fire! You've won every match you've been in."

"Yeah, I guess," Tom said with a shrug.

Sarah finished chewing her first bite, and joined in. "It's great to see you out there racking em up, but you don't seem to be playing as much anymore. I know everyone and their grandma's been asking you play with them, so what's up?"

Tom bit off a bit of his pizza slice, and then guzzled it down with some soda before answering. "I'm just taking some time off to go look at this new location I got from Codemaster Crellan. It's really cool and stuff and I wanna make sure I get everything I can there."

Kaz put down his drink and said, "Oh yeah, you got that Prexxor Chasm scan from Codemaster Crellan. Hey, you get anything good in there?"

"See for yourself." Tom put down his food and looked around for the nearest upload station. Spotting one nearby, he pulled himself out of his seat and made his way over to it, the others not far behind. At the station, which was basically a table built into the floor with a screen on the top, Tom locked his scanner into the side panel and pulled his latest scan onto the screen.

"Whoa-ho-ho!" Peyton said as he looked down at the picture. "You got a new scan of Ursis!? That crazy fur beast that Crellan used against you? Awesome!"

"Yeah, I got it right after my match the other day. I went to Prexxor Chasm a few times before that, but I couldn't find him. Then I remembered that all the times I'd been to Prexxor Chasm in my matches, it was nighttime. So I waited till night came, then went back there. And sure enough, he was there."

"So Ursis is a nocturnal creature. Very cool," Kaz said, slapping Tom on the back.

"Was it tough to get him?" Sarah asked.

"You have no idea," Tom replied. "First, I had to climb all the way down the chasm. Then, after searching for a while, I found Ursis at this waterfall, and found out he's this total wild man! After spotting me, he only took the time to say 'You!' before he roared out and tried to attack me!"

"Whoa," Sarah said while the others stood gaping at Tom's story. "How'd you get him?"

"Mostly by running for my life. I think it was pure luck that I made it out of there. I climbed up this side of the cliff, right, and Ursis was climbing after me. Suddenly, he made this huge leap into the air, and landed right next to me! I thought I was done for, but just then, the rock he was standing on broke off, and he fell back to the floor. He didn't get hurt, so I took the chance to scan him before he could climb back up to me. Then, I just ported out of there."

The others just stood there for a second taking it in, and then Peyton said, "Whoa, dude, that was like totally thrilling! I got chills just listening to it. Hey! You think I could borrow your scan of this place? You know, just temporarily so I can scan some cool new monsters and stuff?"

Kaz and Sarah's head's snapped a little, and they both smiled as they thought of the same thing.

"Hey yeah," Kaz exclaimed.

"Come on, Tom, just give me a little time to scan there" Sarah pleaded.

Tom held up his hands to ward them off. "Whoa whoa guys, hold on. I don't think I'm allowed to do that."

"Aw, come on!" Sarah whined as Tom backed up a step. "You can't let us have one little scan?"

"Yeah," Kaz added. "Come on, we're your friends!"

"Look, sorry guys, but I promised Codemaster Crellan I wouldn't."

"Aw man, how come?" Peyton asked, slumping a little bit at the rejection.

"Look, guys, please try to understand. After the match with Codemaster Crellan, he told me about this scan and why I should keep it to myself. He said 'this scan, this place, is one of the most powerful and dangerous areas you can reach in Perrim. That you've earned it is a testament to your skill and knowledge, as well as your strength of character. It shows that you have overcome many challenges in your quest for greatness. I hope you will remember this match and how you overcame it in your next challenge.'"

"Then he said, 'Tom, I want you to promise me something. Promise you won't share anything you find in Prexxor Chasm, or Prexxor Chasm itself, with anyone else. There will be many people out there who will want to trade you for what you have now. But you must remember: this is _your_ victory. _Your_ prize. Sharing what you've won today with those who have not earned it will not help them. Rather, it will only upset the balance of the game, and soon after, the game itself would fall apart.'"

"So I promised him. The last thing he said to me before I left was this: 'Remember Tom: Opportunity should always be equal, but achievement should always be personal.'"

"And just like that, he was done." Tom looked over at his friends, pulling himself out of his memories and back into reality. The others were just staring at him, with awed looks on their faces.

"Whoa," Peyton said, and then seemed at a loss for words.

"Yeah," Tom said back, "Whoa."

"What do you think he meant by that?" Kaz asked.

"I'm not really sure, but I think he meant that we all have the chance to beat the Codemasters, but we should each try and do it on our own. Find our own way to do it, and not just try and use someone else's abilities to make it."

"But wait," Sarah interrupted. "You didn't exactly do it on your own, either. We all helped you come up with your plan, and Kaz even led you to that mugic that let you win."

"I know," Tom said. "And that's what makes it a little confusing. It's kind of like trying to figure out where to draw the line or something."

"I think I got it," Peyton said. "It's like figuring where you're just helping someone find the answer, and when you're just giving them the answer. Sure, Tom could give Sarah his Prexxor Chasm scan, and Sarah could use it to get all sorts of cool monsters to win her matches with. But Sarah wouldn't have earned those monsters, so would she really have won those matches herself, or would she have just been winning on Tom's generosity?"

"That sounds about right," Kaz interjected. "I guess technically, it'd still be legal and everything for Tom to give Sarah the scan. It's just a question of how Sarah wants to win her matches."

Sarah looked down at the ground for a moment, and thought about her feelings. "I guess I would want to win them myself. But I'm still a little confused about where the line is. Does this mean I shouldn't accept help from you guys? Or what?"

"I don't think it goes that far," Tom said, though he sounded a bit unsure himself. "But maybe…uh, we should…"

"Look," Kaz said, cutting off Tom. "Why don't we just agree that Tom won't give us any of his Prexxor Chasm scans, and besides that, we'll all just keep doing things the same way as before?"

"That sounds cool to me."

"Same here."

"Ditto."

"Great. Now that we've got that settled, why don't we head over to the battledromes for a little match? I mean after all, just because Tom can't give us his scans, doesn't mean we can't battle them. Right, Tom?"

Tom laughed as he headed over to the door with the rest of his friends. "Okay, but don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because you haven't won a Codemaster match yet."

As the door closed behind them, Kaz's words faded away. "What? Oh come on. You can pull your punches a little bit? Huh, Tom? Tom? Buddy?"

* * *

Aw man. I had a really great time writing this. Which really sucks. Now I wanna write even more. Which really, really sucks because it's finals week here at the college and if I don't study I'm totally gonna fail. Grrrr, why, why did I have to start writing now when I need to go study? Grrrr, okay, I gotta go now and do stuff. So tell me what you think and I'll try to post the next chapter soon. That's right, this is just the prologue, so the real adventure hasn't even started yet. I'll be waiting, so till next time, See ya! 


End file.
